Christmas was coming .Mr Smith had no money to buy any presents for his children .His wife was ill and he spent a lot of money on her medicine .And the harvest was bad and all his family were going go be hungry the next spring .He was quite worried about it .

“We had only a cock ,”said Mrs Smith one day .“You’d better take it to the town .Sell it there and buy some cakes and sweets for our children .”

“It’s a good idea !”the man said and caught the cock the next morning and put it into a box .It was difficult to walk on the road covered with thick snow .Two hours later he was very tied and wanted to have a rest .He put the box to the ground and sat down .

“The air in the box must be close ,”the man said to himself .“I’d better let the cock walk outside for a while ,or it’ll die .”

So he put the cock to the ground .When he started again ,he couldn’t catch it any longer .

“How foolish you are !”Mr Smith called out angrily .“You can herald the break of day at night but you cann’t find the way to the town in the daytime !”